Tuesday, May 17, 2016

First Lady urges action to end neglected tropical diseases

First Lady Jeannette Kagame addresses the meeting on NTDs in Kigali yesterday. (Courtesy)

Africa needs stronger commitment from both public and private sectors
to tackle Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) on the continent, First
Lady Jeannette Kagame has said. Mrs Kagame made the remarks, yesterday, at a World Economic
Forum-sanctioned event convened by the END Fund on ending neglected
tropical diseases on the continent. The event intended to shade more light on the continent’s health
issues, and particularly called for increased investments in NTD control
in sub-Saharan Africa. The event was attended by Her Royal Highness the Queen of Buganda
Kingdom of Uganda, Sylvia Nagginda; the Chief Executive of the END Fund,
Ellen Agler; the Minister for Health, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, among other
officials and health experts.

A study conducted by Erasmus University, and released at the End Fund
event, indicates that Sub-Saharan Africa could save up to $52 billion
by 2030 if the region meets the World Health Organisation’s 2020 control
and eliminations target for the five most common neglected tropical
diseases, such as Elephantiasis, River blindness, Bilharzia, Intestinal
worms and Trachoma.

The study was conducted with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mrs Kagame said this kind of events bring more light to some of the
health issues still affecting the region, calling for stronger
partnerships in bringing an end to the NTDs. “In a world fast evolving and creating new solutions to various
health, environmental, socio-economic problems, while connecting people
through technology, it comes as a sad irony that such a large population
of our planet still struggles with diseases that should have been
eradicated a long time ago,” the First Lady said. Figures indicate that 1.6 billion people have had at least one
tropical disease, while 500,000 die each year from complications linked
to the diseases. Mrs Kagame said “the figures of the number of people affected
worldwide each year, by these various tropical diseases are indeed
alarming.”

“I believe that, for our communities to pave the way to a future free
from these health issues, we must continue educating our populations on
how to protect themselves, but also further invest in strengthening
institutions for more efficient health care systems, able to respond
rapidly to this kind of crises,” she said.

Discussing the role of traditional and cultural institutions to end
NTDs, Queen Nagginda said NDTs have been recognised as a health
challenge “yet little attention have been paid to this challenge.”

She said NTDs are mostly found along the Rift Valley side of Uganda
and urged cultural leaders to be part of the campaign to end the
diseases. “Cultural institutions have a role to play in fighting NTDs through
partnering with health institutions to promote healthcare programmes.
Cultural leaders have the ability to mobilise, modernise communities
towards health care and development matters,”

Through her Nnabagereka Foundation, the Queen of Buganda has been
involved in several health advocacy and women empowerment efforts in
Buganda region in central Uganda.

On Rwanda’s case, according to the Ministry of Health, there were no
large scale NTDs control efforts in place and data on the burden of the
diseases until 2007. However, over the last eight years, the Government, with support of
partners such as The End Fund, has taken steps to reduce the burden of
NTDs. Dr Binagwaho said Government has since mapped the prevalence of
intestinal worms, bilharzia, elephantiasis and Trachoma, adding that it
is now “implementing a comprehensive approach to improve hygiene, mass
drug administration, among other NTDS case management campaigns.”

“The Government has tripled the budget to curb NTDs in the last three
years, and it seeks to double the budget in the next two years,” she
said. End Fund’s Agler said NTDs control efforts “offer a return on investment unparalleled in global health.”

“Ending these debilitating diseases will help reduce poverty at all levels,” Agler said.

Mrs Kagame said, over time, Rwanda has seen a decrease in the number
of people affected by these infections and the country now considers
only two of the five NTDs to be a public health problem.

“I trust that such a conversation, will help create a stronger sense
of our shared responsibility in fighting these diseases, while
implementing strategies that can significantly empower our communities
to fully thrive, to live the kind of dignified lives, we all so
rightfully deserve, irrespective of our cultural or economic
backgrounds.”

Profile

is a pediatrician who has served 14 years in high-level government positions across the Rwanda Health Sector. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of the Practice of Global Health Delivery at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine.